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HAMBURG, Germany – Three Stanford incoming freshmen competed at the Junior World Championships in Hamburg, Germany.

Allen Reitz and Jovani Stefani represented the United States and Alex Barakat rowed for Great Britain.

Stefani and Barakat competed against each other in the junior men’s eight. During the heat stage the two were in separate heats.

In the first of two men’s eight heats, Barakat just missed out on an automatic spot in the A Final, finishing third with a time of 5:49.91. The time was just over two seconds back of Italy for the automatic bid. Stefani and the USA also missed out on advancing straight to the finals with a fourth place time of 5:55.03 in the second heat.

Both Stefani and Barakat moved on to the repechage. Needing a top two finish to reach the A final, the two incoming Cardinal rowers battled head-to-head. Barakat and the Great Britain achieved the goal by placing second with a time of 5:54.31. They were within one second of first place France, who also advanced. Stefani missed out as the Americans took fourth with a time of 5:56.27. He would move on to race in the B final.

Barakat and Great Britain posted a time of 7:57.03 for fourth place in the A final, missing out on a medal by one position. They were 11 seconds behind Italy, who took bronze. The host country Germany won gold in the event and The Netherlands garnered silver.

In the B final, Stefani helped the USA place third to give them ninth place overall. They crossed the finish line in 6:31.71.

Reitz was in the junior men’s pair event. Off to a good start, Reitz advanced to the quarterfinals with a fourth place finish in his heat. He put a time of 7:27.29 on the board to move on. In the quarterfinals, the USA boat placed fifth with a time of 7:11.18. The time was not fast enough to send them to the semifinals, but set up a spot in the C Final. Reitz then placed fifth in the C Final with a time of 7:03.19 to finish 17th overall.

All three rowers will join the Stanford squad next month when school begins.